Saturday, October 12, 2013

Halloween is coming up. I think Halloween is my favorite time of year. It provides the perfect excuse to delve into a topic that has pretty much always been of interest to me, that topic being the world of the supernatural, the paranormal. So, for the rest of the month, I will be doing some research into unexplained phenomena. It will be quite exciting.

I intend to share much of my findings on this blog. So be prepared for that!

I am a skeptic about these things, to be perfectly honest. To be fascinated by them does not necessarily mean that I believe in them. I do admit though that I do get the whole “shiver down my spine” experience and become terribly jumpy when I do read about these things. That does not deter me.

My ultimate goal with this project is to one day visit supposedly haunted sites, spend time alone in them (even though that is considered not advisable to go to these places alone), and actually look for explanations other than haunting. So many investigators go in with the prejudice of believing it is paranormal activity, without even looking for any alternate explanation, but I would like to approach it the other way, looking for any possible natural explanation.

I like to write fiction, so perhaps learning about these things will fuel good fiction, as well. Who knows?

Thursday, October 3, 2013

That airplane tires can only be made out of rubber from a rubber tree plant? There is no synthetic material that can do precisely what the airplane requires of its wheels for take-off and landing. I just thought that was pretty cool...

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

I love books. I just had to make that quite clear. I could read books all day long, taking only minimal time out for all those little irritating necessities like food and sleep. No joke! I love books that much!

Sometimes, though, one comes across a book they love so much, it hurts. The book is a constant assault on every bit of emotion you ever felt, and many you didn't even knew you possessed, and it can drive a person crazy! That is how I am feeling now, reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I don't want to give any spoilers away, but it is a truly amazing book. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you won't be able to put it down!

I felt the same way about the Hunger Games trilogy too. And all things related to Harry Potter. Books like this have the power to impact and completely change the way you view the world, and everything and everyone around you. In upcoming posts I want to take a little time to explore how the Harry Potter universe and the world of the Hunger Games shape readers’ understandings of the world they live in. The results are very interesting.

It is also important to note that I am a very very very big Harry Potter fan, so be on the lookout for a lot of Potter-related posts…

I intend, with this blog, to talk about basically everything that interests me, from books to music to politics, human rights, dinosaurs, any random thing I can think of to write about. This should be fun!

Some random favorites of mine:

TV shows: Downton Abbey, Criminal Minds, Law and Order SVU, Little House on the Prairie, I Love Lucy, House, Monk

Movies: basically anything with Alan Rickman in it.

Actor: ALAN RICKMAN!!!

I think I’ll spend the rest of this post talking about Alan Rickman.

In my opinion he is one of the most amazing actors of all time. Seriously, his voice, his facial expressions, the way he moves his hands, everything he does, embodies the character he is portraying in a way no one else ever can. For those of you who don’t recognize the name, or can’t match the name with a face, some of his roles include Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series, Colonel Brandon in “Sense and Sensibility”, the judge in “Sweeney Todd”, and so many others that are all so amazing. I seriously love Mr. Rickman’s work.

A random note also about my music interests. There will be a lot of talk about classical music here, as well as probably many homages to Pete Seeger. Pete Seeger, still very much alive at 94 years of age, is a great folk singer, an admirable environmentalist, and just an overall inspiration to me. So I will have a lot to say about him.

I will try for a post every day. So talk to you again tomorrow!

I encourage any questions or comments or anything else, please feel free to leave them for me!